Abstract
It is uncommon for the cancers other than cancer of the prostate to give rise to osteoplastic bone metastases. The authors here report a case of lung cancer with osteoplastic metastases to the bones. The patient, a 50-year-old woman, died of respiratory failure and generalized deterioration after suffering from cervical and lumbar pain caused by widespread metastases of the lung cancer to the vertebrae and pelvic bone. Autopsy disclosed osteoplastic metastases of lung cancer in the vertebrae, ribs and pelvic bone. The metastatic foci were radiographically osteolytic, but almost all of them were microscopically osteoplastic lesions composed of a large number of immature bone trabeculae. The discrepancy between the radiographic and the histologic findings regarding the metastatic foci can be explained by the fact that the immature woven bone was so low in calcium content that the metastatic foci appeared radiolucent on the radiograph.
